July 4th Market Update

It was a glorious day today, and the market was hopping! Apparently everyone did not leave town this weekend.

Actually, my city has a pretty decent 4th of July event every year. They open up the Fairgrounds and people bring blankets and chairs and we fill the available fields. They have a band to entertain us until the festivities begin, and it is a super duper band! The Mayor and City Council members usually read part of the Declaration of Independence to remind us why we are there, and then the fireworks begin at dark. I went every year when my kids were little, but I have become a slug and now I just watch the fireworks on PBS. Lame, I know.

Before I begin with the photos du jour, I thought I'd post this pic of my handsome tent weight for Stefani. The purpose of this is to show how the rope is wrapped around the tent leg before it is tied up to the inside of the tent. This is really a much more effective anchor than if you just tie the rope to the tent without wrapping it.

And last week I posted how a few of my rubber bands had inspired me to put some SU colors together, so I thought I'd show you the rubber bands in action. My card rack is really a CD rack, so the slots are not the right size and the cards go in on an angle. When the wind picks up they go flying, so I put on these rubber bands to keep them in the rack. And no, I sold NONE of those USA cards, but thanks for asking.

Now on to today's market update.

This is Sophia, whose Dad (or maybe Mom) bought her a nice Holiday bow.

More sour cherries. Yum! I had a basket-full for breakfast.

Our cutie-pie beverage vendor was hanging out with the Rock lady. Check out that shirt! I tell you there is inspiration everywhere!

In addition to bats, he likes mice and he asked me to take this photo of his current favorite.

More sweet peppers! A bunch of these guys came home with me.

And the lady who makes the purses also makes these cup cozies. She thought it was a shame we buy coffee and put a cardboard sleeve around it, and the sleeve gets tossed with the cup. No more! You can own a reusable coffee cup cozy!

Here's the one I got. If you ignore that stray thread, aren't those kitties cute?! And the colors are very bright, and so not 'me'. :-)

Speaking of cats, I was drawn to some fabric that Mary Beth used for one of her dresses. Remember Mary Beth? I mentioned last week that I was horrible with names, and I had yet to even ask her what her name was. Badbadbad. So she told me and I was sure I'd forget. She tested me today, and I passed!! To celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought I'd do a mini-feature of Mary Beth's booth at our market!

Check out these dresses she makes. Oh, too far away and you cannot see them? I had not planned to do a feature when I took these photos, so all I have is this shot of the back of her booth. Ugh. Here's another try:

The dresses are really cute.

This is the fabric that spoke to me. Surprised? Probably not. It has cats and it has green. 'Nuf said.

This is her latest creation. I am not sure if they are tu-tu's or just froo-froo-y skirts. My confusion here is largely based on (1) I had boys, so I never paid attention to girly stuff, and (2) I did not bother to ask. I have failed as a reporter. I promise, Mary Beth, that I'll do better next week.

This is her favorite of the week. ;-)

And see those hair clips in the background? I bought one of her bows, then asked her to take a picture of the back of my head.

This, my dear readers, is as close as you will ever get to a photograph of yours truly. Please ignore the grey hair. The Red, White & Blue ribbon was mine. The pretty blue corker is the one I bought. Pretty nice, huh?

Moving right along, check out these beauties. What are they? They are amira, which is a Middle Eastern cucumber. The seed are hard to get because you need to grow the fruit really big to get seed, and then the plant stops producing. If you keep picking them this small, the plant keeps growing more. ANYway, I bought some and they are wonderful!

See those cherries there next to the cukes? They are sweet as opposed to sour, and they also came home with me.

Tweety came by for a visit. He's a vocal little guy! His Dad said it is a good thing he is already deaf...too funny! Tweety let me hold him, eventually, but he really could not wait to get back on his Dad's shoulder. I think Tweety just tolerates me.

Towards the end of the market, we had a blimp fly over us. Pretty cool! But then I am easily entertained.

Okay, I am done now. I really did stamp some stuff yesterday, but I'll hold off showing you those so you can go do something more constructive than reading this blathering. Plus, it'll give me something to post tomorrow. :-)

Thanks for stopping by!